Created in 1920, the London-based ‘British Institute of International Affairs’ (in 1926 renamed the Royal Institute of International Affairs) has for a century been at the forefront of an ongoing ‘Anglo-American’ conversation about world politics. Yet even though the Institute was regarded from the outset as the institutional expression of a very ‘special relationship’ between the UK and the United States, it did very little independent research of its own on US foreign policy. This however began to change in the 1990s when the United States appeared to have become a ‘superpower without a mission’. It then took on a more organized form following the attack of 9/11. At this critical juncture Chatham House decided to establish a new Study Group—the ‘United States Discussion Group’ (USDG)—which went on to discuss US foreign policy in depth. What this article sets out to do is outline the origins of the USDG, the main contours of what was discussed within the Group, the degree to which these discussions were different to those then underway within the US itself, and finally assess the contribution it made in helping encourage further debate on the United States within Britain’s foremost foreign policy Think Tank.

创建于1920年的伦敦“英国国际事务研究所”（1926年更名为皇家国际事务研究所）已经有一个世纪了，一直在进行有关世界政治的“英裔美国人”对话。尽管该研究所从一开始就被视为英美之间非常“特殊关系”的制度化表达，但它很少对美国外交政策进行独立的研究。但是，这种情况在1990年代就开始改变，当时美国似乎已成为“没有使命的超级大国”。在9/11袭击之后，它采取了更有条理的形式。在此紧要关头，查塔姆大厦决定建立一个新的研究小组，即“美国讨论小组”（USDG），该小组继续深入讨论美国的外交政策。